Biography

Maksym Kryvtsov was born on 22 January 1990 in Rivne. His father was a press salesman, his mother was a school librarian. He studied at Rivne secondary schools No. 23 and No. 28. He graduated from the Rivne Technical School of Technology and Design with a degree in Production of Nonwoven Textile Materials.

In 2014, he graduated from the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design, where he studied footwear and leather goods design. He worked at the Rivne Nonwovens Factory, as a sales assistant, assistant studio master, and SMM manager of the Motley Raccoons project.

Participant in the Revolution of Dignity. Since 2014, he has been at the front as a volunteer; a participant in the ATO/JFO. He took part in hostilities as part of the 5th Battalion of the Right Sector (2014-2015), and later as a senior machine gunner in the Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine (2016-2019). After demobilisation, he worked as a content manager at the YARMIZ Centre for Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation of ATO and JFO Participants and a copywriter at Veteran Hub.

With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he rejoined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On 7 January 2024, his red cat, to whom he dedicated a poem, died with Maksym. On 11 January, the funeral service for the soldier took place at St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral and then on Independence Square in Kyiv. The funeral took place on 12 January in Rivne.

Creative work

He wrote poetry since his teenage years. He was published in collections with works by other authors - "The Book of Love 2.0. Love and War", "Where I am at Home: 112 Poems about Love and War", "Lullaby of the 21st Century Vol. 1: What Lulls You to Sleep?".

Songs based on Maksym's poetry are performed by the Ukrainian band Yurcash - "Dominant Height", "He is in the Armed Forces, She is in the TRO", "Yellow Scotch" (featured in the film Our Cats).

In 2023, he published his own collection of poetry, Poems from the Loophole, which was recognised as one of the best Ukrainian books of 2023 by PEN Ukraine.